Tommy Kelly

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Tommy Kelly (born April 6, 1925 in New York City , New York - † January 26, 2016 in Greensboro , North Carolina ) became known as an American child actor.

life and career

Tommy Kelly grew up as the son of a firefighter in the Bronx under poor conditions and attended a convent school. His ancestors came from Ireland , there were no actors in his family. At the age of 12, he surprisingly received the title role in Tom's Adventure (1938), the lavish film adaptation of Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Film producer David O. Selznick selected Kelly from allegedly 25,000 children who had also applied for the role and had Kelly trained by an acting teacher for three months. Although Tom's box office adventure was not very successful, Kelly was widely praised for his portrayal.

The rest of his film career was rather mediocre. In 1938 Kelly played the lead role in the less lavish comedy Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus , directed by Edward F. Cline , in which he appeared alongside other child stars such as Ann Gillis and Spanky McFarland . In 1939 he made a striking brief appearance in the Selznick production Gone with the Wind , he played the boy from the band in Atlanta who starts crying when the lists of fallen soldiers are given out. Kelly took his last leading role in 1940 as a young cadet in the film Military Academy , after which the roles became smaller and less important as he entered adulthood. In 1950 he retired from the film business after a total of 19 films with a tiny role as secretary in the comedy The Magnificent Yankee . Kelly mostly declined interviews about his career as a child actor in later years.

After graduating and becoming a Doctor of Philosophy , Kelly worked as a high school teacher and later became an administrator for the schools in Orange County , Florida. In the late 1960s he signed up as an administrator for the Peace Corps in Liberia and South Africa . He then worked as the principal of international schools in Liberia and Venezuela before returning to the United States in the 1980s to hold a high position at the US Department of Agriculture . After retiring from the Department of Agriculture, he lived in Florida and most recently in North Carolina. He was married to his wife Sue for more than 67 years until his death; they had six children as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He died of heart failure in January 2016 at the age of 90.

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in Hollywood Reporter, 2016
  2. ↑ Newspaper article about the cast of Tommy Kelly from 1938
  3. ↑ Review from a newspaper: "Local History: Child film stars take city by storm in 1938" (2013)
  4. ↑ Tommy Kelly at Classic Movie Kids ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.classicmoviekids.com
  5. ↑ Tommy Kelly at Classic Movie Kids ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.classicmoviekids.com
  6. ^ Obituary in the New York Times, 2016
  7. ^ Obituary in Hollywood Reporter, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Kelly, Tommy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH January 26, 2016
Place of death Greensboro, North Carolina